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The Andrew C. Duncan
Catholic History Trust

The Trust was founded in 1985 by the late Captain Andrew C. Duncan, OBE, RN, to provide bursaries primarily for students from outside the United Kingdom wishing to come to Britain for a short time to study aspects of the history of the Catholic Church in Great Britain since the Reformation.

There are no restrictions to applications on grounds of age, gender or religious belief. However, the Trust is unable to entertain applications from students seeking to cover course tuition fees, undertake personal genealogical research or engage in ‘scholarly tourism’: only applicants with a clear, personal academic research project can be considered.

Applicants for awards from the Trust are normally registered as students in non-UK universities. In certain circumstances bursaries may also available for students resident in the UK wishing to consult continental European archives and libraries, especially those in Rome.

Students should normally be postgraduates. They should be advanced in studies directly related to post-Reformation Catholic history up to the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act (1829), but their research may include developments during the remainder of the nineteenth century. Students should have an adequate command of written and spoken English.

The Trust has limited resources and generally awards only one or two grants per annum. The maximum grant available to a successful candidate is £1,000, but grants are typically in the region of £250-£750. Awards are designed to help defray a student's travel costs and basic subsistence costs during a period of research in Britain: a grant from the Trust is usually no more than a contribution towards the total cost incurred by a student.

Recent students who have been supported by the Trust include:

Assistance from the Trust has also been extended to students from Germany, Italy, Romania, Russia, Spain and the USA.

Annual Conference: In recent years, a number of successful candidates have planned their research visits to include attendance at the Catholic Record Society's Annual Conference, usually held in the last week of July, and in this way have benefited from networking with scholars working in fields cognate to their own. Intending applicants may wish to bear this opportunity in mind in formulating their research and travel plans.

Closing dates for applications: 28 February and 31 October each year

The trustees consider each application on its own merits. Trustees are drawn from a wide range of religious, diplomatic, academic and financial backgrounds and normally include at least one member of the Council of the Catholic Record Society. They normally meet twice a year, usually in late March and late November, to consider applications received. The result of an application is communicated to the candidate as soon as possible thereafter.

An application should outline as clearly and as succinctly as possible the range and scope of the candidate’s proposed research project. It is expected that, prior to application, candidates will have made serious efforts to identify the places that they hope to visit and the resources (for example, libraries and archives) most likely to advance their research. Such plans should be clearly articulated on the application form: vague statements are unlikely to meet with success. Any plans that a candidate may have to publish the findings of research facilitated by the Trust should be included on the application form.

An application form (available in PDF format), together with a photograph of the candidate and a letter of reference from an academic supervisor, should be sent to the Administrator of the Trust.

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Completed forms, together with a letter of reference from an academic supervisor and a photograph of the applicant, should be returned to the Administrator:

Professor Maurice Whitehead
Department of History
University of Wales Swansea
Singleton Park
Swansea SA2 8PP

Tel: +44 1792 602279
Fax: +44 1792 295746
Email: M.Whitehead@swansea.ac.uk